Among Cal's problems (and there are more) is the fact that the Senate has already been driven into penury by the Republican caucus.

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Remember, no less an authority than Thomas A. Bottern, Esq., counsel to the Rules Committee and Cal's consigliere, has opined that the the defense and settlement of Brodkorb's claim is up to Cal Ludeman, Secretary of the Senate. That's Cal on the right. That is Bottern's opinion, notwithstanding the fact that it was the Republican caucus who hired Brodkorb to be Amy Koch's faithful [chortle] retainer, and it was the caucus and Cal that decided to summarily fire him. (But the money comes out of the Senate.)

But in all the general hilarity over the situation -- and who doesn't enjoy a good belly laugh? -- one thing seems to be overlooked.

Let's start with a hypothetical. Say you have an employee who screws something up so monumentally, so royally, so titanically -- and maybe so carelessly or intentionally -- that it winds up costing you a lot of money. Say that this person is your HR director. Let's also say that the matter that got screwed up was the dismissal of another employee. Can you sue your employee for his utter malfeasance? Why, of course you can.

You see where this is going, don't you?

Ludeman has a huge conflict of interest here. He's playing with house (well, actually the Senate's and by extension the taxpayers') money to hire a lawyer to protect the Senate Republican caucus and himself.

In spite of Bottern's opinion, Cal Ludeman ought to be the last person in charge of this litigation.

And a lawyer truly representing the Senate would be thinking about the question: are there parties other than the institution of the Minnesota Senate who are really responsible here? And should I be thinking about third-party claims against them?